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Full-Text Articles in Communications Law
Fcc Reform: Governing Requires A New Standard, William H. Read, Ronald Alan Weiner
Fcc Reform: Governing Requires A New Standard, William H. Read, Ronald Alan Weiner
Federal Communications Law Journal
Perhaps one of the most crucial questions legislators need to address after passing the 1996 Act is the reform of the Federal Communications Commission. Some suggest that the Commission should be abolished altogether, while others recommend merely curtailing some of the Commission's responsibilities. However, true reform of the FCC recognizes that the Commission still has a vital role to play in the shaping of the telecommunications industry. Instead of dismantling the FCC altogether, Congress should redefine the public interest standard under which the FCC operates. The 1934 Communications Act charged the Federal Communications Commission with protecting "the public interest." While …
Ideas Of The Marketplace: A Guide To The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Michael I. Meyerson
Ideas Of The Marketplace: A Guide To The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Michael I. Meyerson
Federal Communications Law Journal
The 1996 Telecommunications Act has forever transformed the regulatory landscape. The Act contemplates the creation of competition across the full telecommunications field, even in areas such as local telephone service and cable television service that had previously been monopoly controlled. The main combatants in this new marketplace will tend to be even larger companies than those currently dominating the scene. There are numerous dangers, however, that will have to be averted in order for the Act to be successful. The first is that existing monopolies, such as the BOCs and cable operators, will leverage their current power either to gain …